Burn the Orphanage #1 Review

FIGHT!

If you’ve ever played Streets of Rage or Street Fighter, then you’re going to love Burn the Orphanage. As a guy who used to run around his house with a red karate headband made from a torn shirt when he was little and maybe also last week, I can say that the main hero Rock is the epitome of every kid’s martial arts fantasy. And as a gay dude, I didn’t feel alienated by the female nudity and booty shots because Rock’s best buddy Bear is a bearded gay man with the heart of a bear in his chest. Sorry Northstar, you’ve been replaced!

As they write in a letter to their readers, artist/writer Sina Grace and writer Daniel Freedman wanted this comic to include “music, video games, inside jokes, fashion, and fun,” and they deliver on all fronts. The story isn’t original and the characters are all one-dimensional, but it's all executed in a wonderfully knowing way that celebrates the culture that Generation Y grew up with. So pretty much, denim, denim, and denim.

Grace’s artwork is spot-on for this type of story. His action is huge and in your face, and he gets the feel of those classic video games down perfectly. There’s even a sequence where the characters enter the Really Tall Building with the Boss Character at the top level and the comic turns into a 2D side-scroller, complete with “FIGHT!” popping up in big red letters. Burn the Orphanage repeatedly punches you with fists made of nostalgia and awesomeness, which is precisely why you need you need to let it kick your ass.

Joshua writes for IGN. If Pokemon, Game of Thrones, or Green Lantern are frequently used words in your vocabulary, then you’ll want to follow him on Twitter and IGN.